


Elysium: The Last Resting Place

by adroitstories



Series: Elysium [1]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Everyone's a force ghost, Gen, I hate Kylo Ren but he's at the end, Just sadness after R1, Low-key bodhi/cassian, M/M, Not really a ship fic, i wanted to write this so badly, like very very low key
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 23:04:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9094663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adroitstories/pseuds/adroitstories
Summary: Leia wants to build memorials for the dead of the Rebellion, and suggests a place. When Luke goes and checks it out, he finds a few that approve of the plan.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to Carrie Fisher. She drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra. No seriously, she was absolutely amazing. She was iconic, and we are so sorry to see you go. She's one with the Force now, and all we can say is, Thanks so much for everything. I miss her already.

“Here. I want you to go check out this moon.”

Luke looked at the file of the moon. Elysium.

“That’s where I think the memorials should be built,” Leia told him, busy with other paperwork.

“Any reason in particular?”

“It just sounded right. And I’ve been there once. I think the Force is strong there,” Leia simply said. “It’s also uninhabited, and fairly close to the Hosnian system. The memorial should be close to the new seat of government.”

Luke stood. “I’ll take a look.”

Leia furrowed her brows and sighed. “There’s just so many dead. I almost find it unbelievable we need a whole moon to do it.”

Luke smiled wanly. “But it’s over now. Now, we can rebuild.” He sent serene thoughts to Leia, and Luke saw her shoulders relax.

“Let me know by the day after tomorrow, because then we can get the shipments for the memorial pieces. I want this to be the first thing Mothma does as Chancellor.”

Luke waved goodbye as he walked out. “Understood. May the Force be with you.”

“Same to you, Luke.”

oOo

Luke settled into his X-wing, R2 chirping cheerfully in the astromech seat. 

“I know we’re not technically at war anymore, but I’ll never get used to other ships,” Luke said to R2. 

R2 beeped. 

“Call it what you want. I just like the X-wing. And if we happen to run into a few Imperial fighters, then all the better.”

R2 beeped again.

“We’re going to a moon called Elysium. It’s near the Hosnian system.”

R2 chirped, confused.

“I know, I’ve never heard of it either, but Leia recommended it.”

R2 whirred.

“She said the Force was strong there, and that’s good enough for me. At the very least, we’ll check it out, and keep looking if this doesn’t have the gravity of a war memorial.”

R2 chirped smugly.

Luke sighed. “Yes, I’m also looking for a place for a new Jedi Temple. But we’re still fighting the last of the Empire’s forces, so I probably won’t get to that for another few years.”

They stayed silent for the remainder of the trip, reminiscing on the war. When they arrived, Luke was struck by the immediate sense of the Force he felt. He grinned. Leia would make a great Jedi.

Elysium was a small moon orbiting another uninhabited planet. Both planet and moon were mostly irrelevant, with no natural resources, and it wasn’t in a strategic location. Luke didn’t know how Leia ever thought of this planet. Maybe she hid here on a Rebel mission once, he mused.

As they circled the moon, Luke saw the terrain was mostly rocky and harsh. Swirls of fog covered most of the moon, with a few mountains scattered across the northern hemisphere. Both poles were icy, but aside from that there didn’t seem to be any water sources. Little vegetation grew, and from the scanner readings only in the southern hemisphere did it rain.

Luke landed the X-wing on one of the barren plains. As the hatch lifted, he was bowled over by the sheer presence of the Force. He sat in the cockpit, eyes wide as he let the Force surround him. 

R2 beeped worriedly.

Luke stood. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he said as he jumped out. R2 got out of the ship and started rolling towards him. 

Luke knelt and placed his hand on the ground. This is a holy place, he thought. “I’m going to check out the terrain a little. I’ll be back soon. Stay here and guard the ship. I don’t feel any dark presences, but I could be wrong.” He then gathered the Force around him and began to walk off into the fog.

R2 beeped sadly.

oOo

Luke wandered around the plain for nearly twenty minutes before closing his eyes. He felt so many presences here, speaking in a multitude of tongues. Some whispered, some called to him. He opened his eyes and let himself see the ghosts around him.

Before him stood nearly fifty ghosts in varying states of opacity. None of them showed any signs of age or injury. They had been restored, most of them, to their prime. Luke looked around and was struck to see people he had heard of before, people that Leia and Wedge had talked about.

One ghost stepped towards him. He held a staff, and his eyes were clouded. “Greetings, Master Skywalker. We have seen your deeds and applaud them.”

“In a manner of speaking, we’ve seen your deeds,” another ghost rumbled, laughing slightly. His hair was long and braided, and he also carried a quarterstaff. He also carried a large blaster pack on his back. 

“The Force allows me to see, though I couldn't for most of my life,” the first ghost said haughtily. 

Luke bowed to the two ghosts. “Guardians Îmwe and Malbus. I’ve heard much about you, and the Holy City. My deepest condolences to you concerning the loss of the Temple and the Holy City. I wish I could have met you in life. I think I could have learned much from you.”

“No kidding,” Malbus said. He pointed to Chirrut. “This fool could have taught you a lot. I would have improved your blaster skills.”

Chirrut tsked and lightly swatted at Baze. “You never really stopped believing,  
親愛的.”*

Baze blushed. “別說這種話,”** he muttered. “Not in front of the kids.” Chirrut just smiled.

Luke smiled, and looked among the rest of the group.

Chirrut started talking again. “We know why you’ve come. Princess Leia wants to build memorials here. We approve of this plan. This—” he gestured to the expanse of the moon, “—this is a holy place. The Force is strong here, very strong. And although it may not look like much, this is all we could ever ask for as a resting place.” His voice had wavered slightly, towards the end of the sentence. Baze gripped Chirrut’s shoulder to comfort the monk. Chirrut smiled back at his partner then looked at Luke. “It might also make a great moon for a new Temple.”

Luke bowed again. “I appreciate your input, and I will pass that onto Leia. May I meet some of the other ghosts here?”

Chirrut and Baze broke out into grins a mile wide, and Luke shivered slightly. He gathered that, if they had ever looked at each other like that in life, something terrible was going to happen shortly.

“Bodhi? Where’s Bodhi, the rascal?” Baze shouted. There was a cacophony of shouts and yells from the ghosts as one ghost stepped forward shyly. Bodhi was practically pushed forward by another ghost, who grinned slyly at him.

“Hi,” Bodhi started. “My name’s Bodhi Rook—” he said as Luke’s eyes became the size of dinner plates. “I’m—oh…” Bodhi stopped talking as Luke bowed low for him, lower than he had for Chirrut or Baze. When Bodhi saw Luke’s face, he saw tears in the Jedi’s eyes.

“It is the greatest honor of a lifetime to meet you, Captain Rook,” Luke said softly. “Your bravery is truly legendary.”

“Oh no, no, no, you’ve got it all wrong. Really, I’m not—you flatter me, truly, but I think you’ve got the wrong person,” Bodhi murmured, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. The ghost next to him punched Bodhi’s arm, resulting in a muttered ow from Bodhi.

Luke smiled. “You’re the Imperial pilot who started the whole thing. You defected from the Empire to get a message to Saw Gererra. You were the impetus for the Galactic Civil War. We named a whole squadron after you. And in the new Republic fleet, only the greatest pilots fly in the Rogue Squadron. Sir, pilots will continue to pay tribute to you for generations to come. You’re the bravest man in the galaxy. I may be wrong about a lot of things, but I don’t think I have that wrong. Yeah, I blew up the Death Star, but only because you brought the message from Galen Erso. I wish I could have met you in life, really.” Luke couldn’t help gushing—he’d heard so much about Bodhi Rook. 

A small smile began to creep up Bodhi’s face as Luke talked. The ghost next to him, who had been watching Bodhi the entire time, began to grin broadly. 

“Told you, Bodhi. Kids are going to grow up listening to legends about you. I wonder how many are going to name their kids after you,” he laughed, tears almost forming in his eyes, too. Luke looked at the ghost who had spoken, and a little spark of recognition in his eyes appeared.

“And they won’t tell stories of you, Captain Andor?” Luke bantered back, grinning. “By the way, that is a beautiful fur lining in your coat.”

Cassian laughed. “Thank you, Master Jedi. But me? I’m a tired old man, as Bodhi can tell you. The Rebellion aged me so that when I died, I was already about a thousand years old. And my legacy will be marred by the—” here he paused, all laughter gone, “—the things I have had to do, for the Rebellion. There are some things, many things, that disqualify me from hero status.”

Luke frowned. “We’ve all had to do some things we didn’t like. I know sometimes I can’t sleep for it. But we did it so people could be free. And now, the Empire is gone. It will never come back. It cannot.”

“That is very idealistic of you, Master Jedi,” Cassian said gravely, “but if there’s one thing I know is that evil is never wiped out. History never repeats itself, but it does rhyme.”

Luke bowed. “I and others will heed your advice, Captain.” Luke frowned. “Isn’t there one more of the main crew of Rogue One?”

Another ghost appeared. She was small, but her chin struck defiantly outwards. 

“Jyn Erso,” Luke inclined his head slightly. “Your contributions to the Rebellion are beyond words. It’s good to meet you.”

“Likewise, Master Jedi.”

Luke looked around to see the crew of Rogue One and bowed again. “I will tell Princess Leia that Elysium will be the last resting places for the Rebellion’s heroes. I need to tell her to bring the shipments here so that we may start immediately. I’ll be back in about a week. It was an honor to meet you all, and thank you for your sacrifices.”

The ghosts murmured their appreciation. Luke turned and walked back to his X-wing. There was so much to do.

oOo

About a year later, the memorials for the crew of Rogue One were complete. The statues had been carven, and now all that remained was the dedication and the medal presentation. A large crowd had gathered for the dedication, and for once the sun was shining.

Luke walked among the statues one last time, making any corrections as he saw necessary. He had carved all these statues using the Force, using the ghosts as models, and he had painstakingly labored over every single detail. All of the statues were life-sized exactly. 

Leia tapped his shoulder. “It’s time,” she said. Luke turned, lost in thought and walked toward the entrance. Leia began her speech. He covered the statues with cloth and hurried to make the last words of the speech. He mentally went over his notes in his head. He took a breath and started praying. Public speaking made him nervous.

“I am the Force and the Force is with me I am the Force and the Force is with me I am the Force and the Force is with me I am the Force and the Force is with me I am the Force and the Force is with me…” 

“Really? He’s praying?” Baze asked sarcastically. 

“別說話.*** Public speaking makes him nervous.” Chirrut lightly smacked the back of Baze’s head.

Luke heard his name called. He took a breath and stepped onto the podium. He saw the crew of Rogue One along the side of the memorial, and was emboldened by their presence.

“Hello. My name is Luke Skywalker. You might have heard of me as Princess Leia’s brother.” There were laughs. “You may also know that I was the pilot who blew up the Death Star.” There were loud cheers at this. Luke paused before continuing. “What you may not know was that I was not the true hero of that day. The heroes of that day did not live to see the end of the Empire. Those heroes have been mostly forgotten, as they died with their mission. Most do not know their names. They were the ones who retrieved the plans and who pointed out its flaw which allowed us to destroy the Death Star. They lived and fought and died before they ever saw the light of hope. Actually, that’s not quite true. They were that hope. They were the embodiment of that hope, that idea that even if everything seems futile and the only option is to despair, that there is something that makes this all worth fighting for.

“These are the unsung heroes of the Rebellion. They are the crew of Rogue One, a name that has since been retired in honor of them. Now please, allow me to walk you through the memorial and tell you their names.”

Luke stepped down and walked through the stone arch. He stopped in front of the first statue. With a dramatic flourish, he whipped off the first tarp, revealing a granite statue. Luke sighed internally at the sight. They’d brought stone from each of the crew’s native planets and he carved their likeness out of that stone. The stone from Jedha had been terribly hard to carve.

The statue held his hand outstretched, a wan smile on his face. The goggles rested on his brow, and straggles of hair had managed to escape his bun. Luke had worked hours to make the statue seem real, and he hoped his work paid off.

“His name is Bodhi Rook. He was an Imperial pilot who defected from the Empire to bring a message to Saw Gerrera. His bravery was the impetus for the Galactic Civil War. May his name be remembered for generations!” There were cheers at this. Luke saw Bodhi’s ghost bow his head and cover his eyes. Cassian hugged him, and Luke smiled sadly. He used the Force to move a medal into a small depression in the statue. Now, Bodhi would wear his medal for eternity.

Luke nudged a small valve with the Force, and a gas line opened. He took a lighter and lit a blue flame in Bodhi’s outstretched hand. “And may this be a reminder that even in the darkest of times, when all hope seems lost, the solution is not to curse the darkness, but to light a flame.” There were cheers. Luke moved on.

He came upon the next statue and unveiled it. Cassian’s statue stood proudly, a blaster in both hands. Luke smiled internally as Bodhi insisted on Cassian’s statue being close to his, while Cassian kept shrugging off his deeds. Eventually, Cassian had caved. Cassian had also insisted on the fur coat being included in the statue, which had made both Bodhi and Luke laugh.

“His name is Cassian Andor. He was part of the Rebellion from the very beginning, since he was six years old. While Bodhi may have been the pilot of Rogue One, Cassian was the leader and captain of the ship.”

Luke placed the medal in Cassian’s statue. He would wear his medal for eternity. Luke lit a blue flame on the statue and repeated his dedication. “And may this be a reminder that even in the darkest of times, when all hope seems lost, the solution is not to curse the darkness, but to light a flame.” Luke saw Cassian’s face turn to stone, and Bodhi whispered something in his ear. Cassian loosened up and leaned back into Bodhi.

Next, Luke came across a statue of Baze and Chirrut. They were back to back, and the statue seemingly captured fluid motion. Chirrut was using his quarterstaff, and Baze held his blaster in his hand. “Guardians Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus. As they were two halves of one whole in life, so their statues are halves of one whole in death. They were Guardians of the Holy Temple on Jedha, guardians of the Kaiber crystals the Jedi used in their lightsabers.”

Luke saw Baze and Chirrut holding hands, and he couldn’t keep the tears out of his voice. As he placed the medals in their statues and lit their flames, his voice stuttered as he said, “...the solution is not to curse the darkness, but to light a flame.”

Next, Luke came upon Jyn’s statue. “Jyn Erso, daughter of Galen Erso. She was a hero. She was the one who finally sent the plans to the Rebel fleet at the Battle of Scarif.” He placed a medal in her statue and lit her flame.

Luke continued with all the others of the crew of Rogue One. The procession was solemn and grave, At the end, most people couldn’t wait for the refreshments and snacks that were waiting for them. Luke sighed as he saw the stampede run off, unwilling to learn from the past. He sighed as he walked over to where the maintenance droid waited. Luke activated the droid and waited. Out of the corner of his eye, Luke saw Cassian and Bodhi walking towards them.

“Where am I?” the droid asked. “Last I remember, I was on Scarif. You look small and scruffy.”

Luke laughed at that. Cassian had said the droid would say whatever came into it’s mind.

“Hello K2-SO4. I’m Luke Skywalker.”

The droid sniffed. “I’m unimpressed. Where’s Cassian? Did he make it out of Scarif?”

Luke swallowed. “No. No, he didn’t. I’m sorry.”

There was a pause. 

“Why did you reactivate me if Cassian isn’t alive?” K2 asked. “What could be more important than Cassian?” Luke saw Cassian fall to his knees at the sight of the droid.

“K2? K2, is it really you?” he gasped. Luke felt immeasurable pity for the captain and the droid. They’d never get to interact again.

“Because he needs you, one last time.”

“How can he need me if he is dead?” K2 asked robotically. 

“Because he needs you to maintain his memorial. Let me show you.” Luke guided K2 over to Cassian’s statue. Cassian and Bodhi followed closely.

“This is not Cassian. This is a statue. It doesn’t even look like Cassian,” K2 said sullenly. “You left something out, although I don’t know what it is.”

Luke sighed. “I know. But many people think it looks like him. And this is how people will remember him. I need you to just watch over the statues in the memorial, make sure the flames are always lit and cleaning them if something happens. Can you do that?”

K2 paused. He didn’t stop looking at the statue. 

“My very last memory was an impossible simulation where Cassian Andor lived. If this is the only way he lives on, then I will be happy to do this until I grow outdated. And then you will have to insert my chips in a new droid so I can continue.”

At those words, Cassian broke down in tears. 

“K2, my friend,” Cassian whispered, and then he started murmuring in Spanish. 

Luke felt tears sting his eyes, and he wiped them away hastily.

“I just hope that doesn’t apply to that statue,” K2 said, pointing to Jyn’s statue. Cassian and Bodhi laughed and cried at that. Luke smiled at that, too.

“No, you have to clean that statue too. Cassian would want you to.”

“I miss him.” K2 looked at the statue. This encouraged a fresh bout of tears from Cassian. 

As Luke walked away, he heard the droid say something softly. “It does look like him.” 

 

oOo 

It wasn’t until years later, when Kylo Ren destroyed the new Temple, that the flames stopped burning. K2 had tried to stop him, but he’d been cruelly cut down. Kylo Ren destroyed all the statues, hatefully cutting them down as the ghosts watched in horror and sadness. They’d done all they could to keep the padawans alive. It had not been nearly enough.

**Author's Note:**

> *-Dearest.  
> **-Don't say things like that.  
> ***-Silence.
> 
> I would have put something in Spanish for Cassian but I can't speak Spanish, and I'm too nervous to use a translator for a language I can't speak/use. Also, yeah, sue me, I used Traditional Mandarin, not Simplified.


End file.
